I’ve been very bad for eating fish recently, I don’t know why as I love it but I think I only love it when the sun is shining outside and I’m sitting on the Amalfi coast, I don’t want much do I? The weather here lends itself to lots of stews, roast meats, soups, anything warm and comforting really. To be honest we don’t have much access to fresh fish here either unless you can get into Rene Cusacks in the city centre so I’m dependant on Superquinn which basically stocks salmon, cod and monk-fish anytime I’m there. I don’t know if it’s due to the recession but lately anytime I’m in there the fish stands have been reduced to 1 and there is very little in stock. I felt like something different last week, I had enough poultry and meat over Christmas so I decided it was time for some fish but it was freezing out so I wanted something hearty and warm. I normally do fish very simply with lemon and herbs but I find that quite summery so I decided on a fish stew but the only fish they had in Superquinn was monk-fish, salmon or sea-bass. I’ve never cooked monkfish so I picked up 2 lovely tails and made a fabulous stew, it was so tasty and full of flavour and it’s going to be on my menu for the future.
what you need:
2 monk-fish tails(sorry I don’t remember the weight)
1 carrot
1 celery stick
1 onion
1 clove garlic
200g cherry tomatoes
selection of herbs – SQ do a a fish herb mix which I used along with some basil. You could use sage, oregano etc.
125ml white wine
350ml veg stock
olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
1 kg potatoes cut into chunks. I cook my potatoes seperately and then add them at the end, I’m sure you can do it all together but sometimes me and potatoes don’t get on:)
what to do:
chop your onions and garlic, heat some olive oil in a casserole dish or pot and cook your onions and garlic until soft but not coloured:
chop your carrot and celery into very small pieces:
add your celery, carrot and herbs to your onions and cook over a low heat for about 10 mins until softened:
chop your tomatoes and cut up your monkfish into large chunks:
add your monkfish to the pot and season:
cook the fish for about 5-7 mins turning frequently:
add the tomatoes, wine, basil, lemon and stock and season again:
put the lid on your pot and leave to simmer over a low heat for about 15 mins until the fish is cooked:
add your potatoes:
serve and enjoy the praise:
buon appetito!
Oh lorraine – this is perfect and so remiscent of summer!!! I will be making this for definite, it looks fantastic and with a glass of white wine would be a perfect dinner!
Lovely photos! That stew looks really delicious!
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Rach – it was so good! Let me know how you get on if you make it:)
thumbbook – I will do:)
Lor, Your blog is looking so beautiful! So professional, and all your photo’s look fantastic!
Hi,
This sounds a bit like my fish stew. I fry onions & garlic and add sliced corgettes, mixed peppers and beef tomatoes (peeled and de-cored). Once all this is tasty-looking I add a decent quantity of white wine, bring to the boil and add a chunk of Monk fish for each person.
Remove from the heat, cool and keep overnight. Next day, add a piece of white fish (in Portugal I use Corvinha, but I don’t know what that is in English – Pollock works) for each person… just place it on top of the stew. Heat the stew gently, once it starts to get hot, turn the steaks carefully to ensure they are cooked through. Simmer for about ten mins and it’s ready to serve…. if you are running a bit behind with your timings, no problem the stew can keep forever, even delicious the next day.
Goes well with baby new potatoes, which you can cook in the stew if you wish. However its safer to cook them separately since they can take longer than expected and leave the fish over-cooked if you’re unlucky. And of course some fresh crusty bread.
Perfect taste of the med for a dinner party. The joy is that you can do all the work the day before.
To raise the dish to something more exciting, get some giant prawns and fry them with garlic, butter and piri piri sauce. These can be added to the stew or put on the plate when serving, but I like to put the sizzling pan on the table, this has to be done at the last minute, so arriving with pan creates a wow factor as the stew is being served.
Hope someone tries this! (Don’t forget to check the seasoning as you go)
Nigel
Nigel. sounds YUM! I’m sure someone will try it…..